Author Archives: ejrobins@usc.edu

“Yike”

COLLECTOR: “So what’s the difference between ‘yike’ and ‘yikes’?”
INFORMANT: “Asking that’s a little yike, isn’t it?”
C: “Sure, but it’s for the archives.”
I: “Alright. Well… ‘yikes’ is just the word, right? Like you say it whenever—whenever something kind of bad happens. But ‘yike’ is more specific. You only say ‘yike’ to people who know what it means.”
C: “And what does it mean?”
I: “I mean, it’s like ‘yikes’ but for, um, like, cringey things, not just any bad stuff.”
C: “Can you give an example?”
I: “Um, like if we were sitting here and overheard someone say something kinda racist or sexist—especially if we knew he said a lot of kinda racist or sexist things, like, regularly—I might turn to you and raise my eyebrows and say ‘yike.’ I guess.”
C: “So there’s a context of an ‘in’ crowd required to say ‘yike’?”
I: “Sure. I don’t really know if anyone other than our friends use it. But, um, yeah, there are definitely like ‘yikey’ people we all know about.”

This piece of folk-speech was shared by a high-school friend of mine whom I called him to ask if he could think of any folklore from or our time in together. The slang exclamation “yike” and its associated adjective “yikey” came up. As his explanation of the term suggests, like a lot of folk-speech, its precise definition proves difficult to nail down, seeing as using it relies heavily on the participants in the conversation and the conversation’s context. Generally, ‘yike’ seems to be used by my informant’s group of friends heavily involved in social justice, to respond in a sarcastic manner to people who are slightly racist, misogynist, or just less-informed than them about social issues. Thus, saying ‘yike’ not only comments directly on something, but establishes a bond of recognition and respect between those saying it, who are aware enough to point out when others are acting or speaking unthoughtfully.

Legend about Music Producer’s Synths

INFORMANT: “A few years ago everyone was saying that Zedd’s synths were actually just samples of an electric razor, which I’m sure they weren’t.”
COLLECTOR: “Who do you mean by ‘everyone’?”
I: “Just, like, people on the internet… Anyways, then, he, Zedd—I think it was on April Fools Day—Zedd posted a video of himself actually recording a razor and making a joke song from it, so I guess the rumor reached him, even.”

This contemporary legend was shared by a high-school friend of mine who produces music. I called him to ask if he could think of any folklore from either that professional field or our time in grade school together. As soon as he said it, I remember him also telling me this contemporary legend in his bedroom/studio, when the rumor was just coming out. It seems like the legend arose inside of the online electronic music community, in which my friend participates. “A few years ago” would have been when the subject of the legend, the major producer Zedd, was becoming incredibly popular, so it seems the popularization of this particular story would have been fueled by the insecure jealousy of young people like my friend, hoping to make it big, who felt that Zedd did not put enough effort into his work to deserve the fame he was achieving. Interestingly, this story also incorporates the folkloric tradition of April Fools Day. Zedd’s acknowledgement of the legend’s existence suggests it must have become quite widespread through the internet, and likely helped perpetuate it further, because he chose to neither confirm nor deny it, preserving the uncertainty necessary for a legend to persist. I believe this piece of folklore also works as a sign of the times in music. Whereas the legends that certain early rock albums contained secret satanic messages obviously reflected the cultural discomfort with the rise of that new genre, this legend quite directly addresses concerns over the ambiguity of electronically produced music, in which you never know if sounds are ‘real’ or synthesized.

Practical Joke with Easter Eggs

“So, every year, on my dad’s [the Armenian] side of the family, we’d hides eggs with money in them. But half the eggs would have nothing in them, and we’d put all these on the ground and all the ones with money in them up in trees, so only the older kids could reach them. And it was a kind of practical joke on the younger kids. And we’ve been doing this for like twenty years… It all arose because my grandparents loved competition.”

This piece of religious folklore came from a classmate with whom I exchanged lore. She noted that both sides of her family, although ethnically separate, had developed very similar variations on the traditional Easter egg hunt. Both draw a clear age line, separating the ‘children’ from the ‘adults.’ The former naively hunts for plastic eggs, hoping for reward and enjoying the fun of the chase, while the latter, more experienced and understanding, are privy to extra information, enjoying the fun of the hunt vicariously as their labor pays off.
As this religious folk tradition/ritual is also a children’s game, it works like many folk children’s games to help kids explore social structures. By creating a firm distinction between searcher and hider, the child/adult distinction, which is normally rather blurry, is made concrete and tangible for the smaller family members. Although they enjoy hunting for eggs, the can also excitedly anticipate the day when they will graduate into the grown-up world and gain the associated knowledge—be allowed to hide eggs.

Mexican-American Variation on the Easter Egg Tradition

“So, I have a big family on my mother’s [the Mexican] side. So every year, we have an easter basket that looks like a laundry basket, and the people who get to hide the eggs are the ones who have graduated from being little kids. It’s usually around sixteenish, and it’s an unwritten rule that once you turn sixteen you can no longer look for eggs. And then the two oldest boys hide the trick eggs up in trees. But the emphasis is less on it being a practical joke and more about growing up.”

This piece of religious folklore came from a classmate with whom I exchanged lore. She noted that both sides of her family, although ethnically separate, had developed very similar variations on the traditional Easter egg hunt. Both draw a clear age line, separating the ‘children’ from the ‘adults.’ The former naively hunts for plastic eggs, hoping for reward and enjoying the fun of the chase, while the latter, more experienced and understanding, are privy to extra information, enjoying the fun of the hunt vicariously as their labor pays off.
As this religious folk tradition/ritual is also a children’s game, it works like many folk children’s games to help kids explore social structures. By creating a firm distinction between searcher and hider, the child/adult distinction, which is normally rather blurry, is made concrete and tangible for the smaller family members. Although they enjoy hunting for eggs, the can also excitedly anticipate the day when they will graduate into the grown-up world and gain the associated knowledge—be allowed to hide eggs.

Anthropologist Proverbial Joke

“My old anthropology teacher got this from her old anthropology teacher, but they say ‘to be an anthropologist, you have to be a little crazy,’ because, well, we spend a lot of time dressing up in other cultures.”

This occupational proverbial joke came from a classmate with whom I exchanged lore. She herself is an Anthropology major, explaining the specifics of this telling. However, I have heard the exact same setup, “you have to be a little crazy to be a ____,” used for just about any profession you can think of. The multiplicity and variation of this piece of folklore come across in the universal applicability of the joke.
Although this joke may seem self-deprecating at first, it is really a way for people to take pride in their profession. The meaning is not, “we’re all crazy,” but “we are willing to drive ourselves a little crazy because we care so much about doing to work because we know it is important.” The fact that my informant heard this from her professor demonstrates its practical uses. As well as simply communicating pride, telling occupation folklore like this can help bring others into the community. By telling my informant this joke, and emphasizing its longstanding history through the ‘original’ source, her professor likely helped instill in her a respect for the field of anthropology and those who practice it.